Ann ventured to northwest Arkansas to attend the Agricultural Media Summit in July, engaging in professional development, networking, and skill building. This annual event, jointly organized by the Ag Communicators Network, Livestock Publications Council, and Connectiv Ag Media Council, brings together ag journalists, photographers, affiliated industry representatives (like HMG), and students.
Artificial intelligence was a hot topic for keynote and breakout sessions, offering insights and cautions for the technology which can be a great resource, helpful tool, and erroneous, too. It was clear AI is being used widely by communications professionals who seek its benefits while both protecting their craft and being wary of its pitfalls.
The AI Conundrum
One presenter, an agency owner, shared her success using AI tools for many tasks from writing and editing to creative tasks and image development. Her AI preference is Perplexity, a paid version, and the speaker illustrated its features for many of her daily tasks. On August 8, a report published by Cloudflare titled, “Perplexity is using stealth, undeclared crawlers to evade website no-crawl directives,” demonstrates how new, unregulated, and unconventional AI technology is.
Wide consensus on the inability of AI to craft creative work at the same level as seasoned professionals was apparent. It can assist with research, proofread, suggest leads, titles, subtitles, and more. AI tools deliver typically great results for things like agenda building, form development, and, generally, taking care of tasks that consume time, now freed for the more creative pursuits of our industry. Bad, even laughable, content is everywhere online including social media where AI has been given too much trust, resulting in all kinds of cringe-inducing content. The human element – imperfect as we are – prevents this chaos.
Focusing on the Good
AI is everywhere. We use it often without acknowledging we do so. A Gallup article published online in January 2025 shares the story. Author Ellyn Maese wrote, “Nearly all Americans use products that involve artificial intelligence (AI) features, but nearly two-thirds (64%) don’t realize it, according to a new study conducted in partnership with Telescope, an organization that works toward the responsible advancement of technology.”
Where? Weather forecasting apps or websites, streaming services, online shopping websites or apps, social media platforms, and navigation apps or websites were all listed in the article. If you have ever said, “Hey, Google…” before asking a question or talked to Siri or Alexa, you’ve used AI.
Do we use AI at HMG? Of course, as it’s integral to many of the tools we employ from websites, apps, and platforms. We exercise care and caution while remaining interested in the potential to help us do our work better. If we can harness AI to drop backgrounds out of photos with a few clicks, we will! Yet, this article was not written by AI, reflecting our respect for our customers, vendors, and allies in the storytelling business. We will work on becoming excellent prompt engineers for the best results when using AI for research and inspiration. However, we will also be applying our experience and knowledge for telling our customers’ stories authentically.
When we observe Labor Day, we recognize the contributions of workers to the country’s development and prosperity.
HMG will be closed Monday, September 1. Join us in celebrating this important holiday!
